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👋🏻 2017

2017 has come to an end and so I thought it’d be cool to post a little overview of this year. To look back at some of the highlights. 2017 has been a long and hard, but also great year for me. Listing these highlights makes me feel a lot better about 2017 already!

💼 Kiesling Media turned 5 years old

On 01-01-2017, Kiesling Media turned 5 years old. I’m proud of what we’ve established over the past few years and look back at yet another great year. We managed to double our profit, but more importantly, this was the year in which we bettered our services, worked with great new people and worked on some exciting new projects.

🌏 Visited Hong Kong & Taipei

I visited Asia for the first time in my life! In February, my previous roommate Robin and I visited Hong Kong. After Hong Kong, I flew to Taipei, where my friend Lauran was living. My time in Asia was amazing (and a little overwhelming at times too). Eager to see more of Asia very soon!

🇩🇪 Lived in Berlin for a few months

For my pre-master’s dissertation, I decided to interview German companies. And what better place to go to in Germany than Berlin (yes offence friends from Nordrhein-Westfalenfailure)? I had the time of my life in Berlin. It’s perhaps even my favourite city I’ve ever lived in. Thanks to all the great people I met there, and thanks to my friends Anki, Jonas & Anna who visited me there.

🇫🇷 Started a new project in Paris

I started a new, international project for a client in Paris. That gave me a lot of new energy, since it’s always nice to make such trips for work.

🎓 Graduated

In July, I (finally – even though I did a fast track) finished my bachelor and pre-master, together with some truly remarkable people. The pre-master was tough and my dissertation was kind of a hussle, so I was happy when all of this was over (I imagined it to be more satisfying though).

💍 Dad got married

To celebrate being together for 12,5 years, my dad and his girlfriend got married. It was so special to see your dad marry and I’m extremely happy for them. We had a great day!

🇵🇹 Visited Porto, Albufeira and Lisbon

Together with my dear friends Laura, Liza and Jonas, we did a little roadtrip through Portugal. That was great fun, thanks! 🐐

🏠 Moved to Amsterdam

After the biggest housing struggle since the beginning of time, my good friend Mick (whom I met in Helsinki) and I finally managed to find a place in Amsterdam. It’s funny how I saw the apartment only after signing the contract, but I absolutely love the place and think we’ve managed to decorate it quite well (all while giving Mick the feeling he has a say too). Living together with Mick is a lot of fun and we’re both super excited to turn our home into a ‘smart home’ (example).

🤓 Started my Master’s degree

Right after summer, I started with the Master of Science in Business Administration (Digital Business track) at the University of Amsterdam. So far, so good luckily. It’s a completely different experience compared to my Bachelor’s degree. It’s cool to have some new friendships starting here too.

🇩🇰 Visited Copenhagen

A friend of my pre-master, Jara, moved to Copenhagen over summer. Together with another good friend, Eva, we visited her there. Besides enjoying Copenhagen and its pretty stores, sights and food, I extremely enjoyed seeing these two friends again. Later in the year they visited me in Amsterdam, and now a tradition is born.

📚 Booklaunch of Snap!

I’m incredibly proud of my dear friend Anki, who launched her second book this year. Snap! is a book about smartphone photography (in Dutch). I feel privileged that I was allowed to help Anki with the book. The second edition is already on its way!

🎉 Went to a bunch of parties & festivals

Luckily, 2017 was also full of partying. I went to a few very cool festivals, like Pleinvrees (and one very bad one: Wireless in Frankfurt haha). I also had a lot of great parties and get-togethers with my friends. Boats also turned out to be a recurring theme in 2017… 🤔

🎂 The Beavers’ 5th anniversary

The ‘Bevers’ are very, very good friends of mine. 5 years ago we did our first trip, and we’re friends ever since. Whenever you need a good friend, these people are always there. Thank fuck for beavers! 😘 to [Iris](https://www.instagram.com/enigheid/), [Marlous](https://www.instagram.com/ohmariemag/), [Wendel](https://www.instagram.com/middleclasswhitegirl/) and [Anki](https://www.instagram.com/zilverblauw/)!

🇨🇿 Visited Prague

Another good friend of mine, Wouter, lived in Prague for a while. Together with Lauran and Tommie we visited him there. We also visited Pilsen, a great little city near Prague, where you can find these beautiful buildings.

🌐 Attended Web Summit in Lisbon

Last year I was part of trade mission to Lisbon, which included a visit to Web Summit. This year, I went back to Lisbon for Web Summit. Together with my good friends and colleagues [Robin](https://robinvanwijngaarden.nl/) and [Hugo](https://glamorousgoat.nl/). We had a great time in Lisbon, a city I’ve come to love. I also attended some interesting talks and met many inspiring persons at the conference.

🇧🇪 Did my first press trip

Earlier this year, my friend and colleague [Hugo](https://glamorousgoat.nl/) took over a travel website, for which I did my first press trip. In December, I went back to Antwerp. You can read my article [here](https://www.reistips.nl/winter-in-antwerpen/) (in Dutch).

💪🏻 Lost 10 kg

I started a diet in September, to get in shape again after a stressful year. With the help of my coach, I managed to lose 10 kg already. The healthier lifestyle feels extremely refreshing again.

🖥 Started this blog

I used to regularly write blogs on my website. I stopped doing that a long time ago, but missed it somehow. That’s why I started writing again with this year overview. I hope to evolve this website into a real blog again, so that I finally have a place online to share my thoughts and experiences again.